One for those around in the 1970s: Who was better, Kuszczak or Grummitt?

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Having read through some old Albion match reports from the 1970s, I am struck by what a great goalkeeper Peter Grummitt must have been. Frequently turning in great saves, often from almost certain goals, and installing confidence in his back four. Sounds like our Tomasz, I thought. And the frequency in which Grummitt saved penalties must have made a huge difference to Albion's fortunes as well. Might even have saved us from relegation in 1974.

Just as when our Pole in Goal fumbled against Birmingham, when there was a dip in the ex-Forest and Wednesday keeper's performance, such as in the pre-season to 1974/75 or in the middle of 1975/76, it came as a big shock to all concerned, not least to Peter Taylor, an ex-goalkeeper himself.

No doubt if you ask many people who weren't around in the 1970s who the best out of the two was, they'll say Kuszczak simply because they never saw Grummitt. And maybe they're right anyway.

But I want to ask specifically those who have seen both: who's the better Albion keeper?

Good question. I feel that Grummitt would just shade it for me however big TK is right up there with him. Maybe not quite a fair comparison as keepers now get more protection from Refs, pitches in the 70's were crap and the balls like lumps of concrete. On the other hand the flight of current footballs seems far less predictable. The very best keepers like Banks, Shilton, Schmichael and Jennings had a 'presence' and an invincible 'aura' about them, I'm not sure that either were quite in that league.

Corrigan was in the twilight of his career and not quite as good but still a hell of a keeper. Steele, Moseley, Sidebottom and Powney were good and Digweed and Keeley were pretty decent too. I hoped that Ben Roberts would do more of a job for us but didn't work out. FDM had some great moments too.

The important thing for me is not just being a good shot stopper and dealing with crosses but commanding the penalty area and giving confidence to the defence. If you are solid at the back then the whole team can play with confidence. Add in a keeper with decent distribution and you're onto a winner.

I believe Grummit was not far away from an England call up at a time when England had some fantastic keepers. he came to us after a long career in the top flight and what he brought was experince.

He commanded his area and his back line. Many a game he actually had little to save because of the instructions he gave. He, far more than any Albion keeper I've seen, commanded from the back, all the play was infront of him andhe talked to his backline and they trusted him.

Of course, should anything ever get through, he was there, often pulling off spectacular saves.

We only had him for a season or so but I've had him as my best Albion keeper (although FDM is my fav!) but PIG is certainly the best we've seen for many a year.

TK slightly edges it for me. PG had all the necessary experience from playing at the top which clearly showed at Division 3 level. TK is a confident keeper who will parry , flick away , punch , fingertip save , use his body and command the box.

Response to a post by SeasideEagle on BBS - "Are you another account belonging to cpfc2010? You seem to be spouting the same bullshit."

I'm going for TK - just. As has been pointed out Grummitt came to us at a much later stage in his career than TK when his best days were behind him. Also we were in the third tier rather than second so the standard wasn't as high.

The memory's going a bit but as well as all those mentioned Dave Hollins wasn't a bad keeper. I didn't see enough of Eric Gill but we didn't lose many games when he was on his record run. Let's just say we've been fortunate to have a lot of very good keepers over the years ( and some very ordinary ones!). Kuszczak is up there with the very best.